The Porsche 918 Spyder is Now the New ‘Ring King with its 6:57 Lap Time!

Sep 11, 2013

While Honda is working hard to make sure that their upcoming 2015 Type-R top the charts as the fastest front-wheel drive production car around the Nurburgring, Porsche had done something pretty much similar, except for the ‘front-wheel drive’ part. Taking their all-new 918 Spyder to the legendary German track, it is now the new holder of the Nurburgring Nordschleilfe lap record for series production cars.

With a blistering time of 6 minutes and 57 seconds, the Porsche 918 Spyder takes the throne by shaving off 14 seconds from the Gumpert Apollo Sport’s time set back in 2009. Although this time is already very impressive and in no doubt hard to beat, we are still keeping our eyes close on when the Ferrari LaFerrari or the McLaren P1 will have their outing at the Green Hell and challenge this record.

Three drivers were lined up in the attempt of breaking the record; rally star Walter Rohrl, Porsche test driver Timo Kluck and Porsche factory driver Marc Lieb. Surprisingly, all three of them managed to post quicker times than the existing record, all posting sub-seven minutes lap times. But on the morning of September 4, it was Marc Lieb who posted the fastest lap time of 6:57 minutes, swathing through the Nurburgring with an average speed of 179.5 km/h.

In the pursuit of breaking the record, Porsche had fielded two 918 Spyders, each equipped with the optional “Weissach package” that increases the driving dynamics. Both the cars have 874-horsepower and used standard Michelin tires develop specifically for the Spyder.

“The radical hybridisation of the 918 Spyder from the very outset is what made this lap record possible. The lap time on the Nordschleife is and remains the toughest measure of a super sportscar. Posting a time of 6:57 minutes, we achieved a result of which everyone in the development team and at Porsche as a whole is rightly proud”, said Dr. Frank Walliser, the head of the 918 Spyder project.